The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

With Thursday’s news that the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka has a partial ligament tear in his elbow which could require Tommy John surgery, one has to wonder why any team would sign a pitcher to a big-money, long-term contract nowadays.

The Yanks inked Tanaka to a seven-year, $155 million deal plus a $20 million posting fee which for a 25-year-old coming off a 24-0 season in Japan seemed like a sure bet. When he got off to an 11-1 start singlehandedly keeping the Yanks afloat in the AL East race, it even seemed like a bargain.

But now, if plasma injection treatments do not work in the next six weeks, Tanaka will have to undergo surgery which would most likely sideline him for the entire 2015 season. The Yanks have already lost one starter in Ivan Nova to Tommy John surgery as well as C.C. Sabathia because of a degenerative knee condition and Michael Pineda due to a shoulder and back strain. At 39, Hiroki Kuroda is the only starter standing from the opening-day rotation.

Sabathia is another example of a big-money, long-term contract that could cost the Yanks $73 million with no return if he can’t recover. He was signed to a seven-year, $161 million contract prior to the 2009 campaign which resulted in a world championship. But then the Yanks inexplicably added a year and $30 million to the pact in 2011.

On the other side of town, the Mets gave Johan Santana $137.5 million over seven years in 2007 and he wound up being injured for much of his tenure. The poster child for a foolish contract given to a pitcher was the Giants’ signing of Barry Zito to a seven-year, $126 million deal in 2006. He had just one winning season in seven years and is currently out of baseball.

It is hard to think of any pitcher signed to a long-term lucrative contract who justified the expense. It will be interesting to see if teams, particularly the Yankees, continue to make this costly mistake.